CSW calls for release of journalist detained for two weeks

CSW is calling on the Cuban government to immediately release Henry Constantín, a journalist who was arrested on 16 September. He is currently being held in in the Kilo 7 Maximum Security Prison in Camagüey Province.

Mr Constantín, director of the online news outlet La Hora de Cuba and vice-president of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), was charged with ‘disobedience’ based on allegations that he had failed to appear on time at the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Foreigners (DIIE) in response to an official summons on 9 September. He was initially detained at the State Security-run Villa María Luisa operations centre and transferred to Kilo 7 to await trial shortly thereafter.

CSW sources noted that Mr Constantín’s imprisonment is not in line with the penalties for his alleged crime laid out in Cuban law, which specifies that an unjustified failure to appear for an initial summons is to be addressed with a monetary fine. It is believed that the true motivation behind his detention and the criminal charges are an attempt to stop his defence of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, in his journalistic work.

A person close to Mr Constantín expressed concern for his safety and health, noting that Kilo 7 is notorious for violence and its unsanitary facilities. They added that for the moment although he has lost some weight he has been permitted to receive basic items including food and medicine, and that every 15 days he is allowed one visitor. 

CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘We demand that the Cuban government release Henry Constantín and drop the charges against him. There is no legal justification for his detention. It is clear that he is being targeted because of his work as an independent journalist and his long history of defending human rights, including freedom of religion or belief.’